Time of the essence when Cardinals QBs drop back to pass

Thanks to the sack tracker (and our eyes), we know both Kevin Kolb and John Skelton have been sacked often this season.

And now, due to the hard work by the folks at ProFootballFocus.com, we're aware of just how little time Arizona's passers have had to throw the football.

Now to explain what ‘time to throw' is, we record the time from when the ball is snapped to the point where the quarterback has either thrown a pass or can no longer throw a pass (has been sacked or scrambled past the line of scrimmage).

The piece, released Wednesday, shows Kolb, on 217 drop backs, has been given 2.84 seconds before he's gotten rid of the ball. Skelton, on 187 drop backs, has had 2.64 seconds.

However, that only takes into account the passes the quarterbacks got off. The site's research shows Kolb, who has been sacked 27 times this season, has had a league-worst 2.49 seconds from the time the ball was snapped to when he was dropped by a defender. Skelton, who has been taken down 14 times this season, has been given 2.64 seconds before a defender got to him.

So, what does this show? Besides the line apparently blocking marginally better for Skelton than Kolb, it makes one wonder how the injured Cardinals signal caller was even able to be as effective as he was, given the fact that he was under immediate pressure seemingly every time he dropped back to pass.

As ProFootballFocus put it, "Nobody warrants your sympathy more than Kevin Kolb who was not helped by a pass protection unit that saw his average sack coming within 2.3 seconds of the ball being snapped."